REFLECTION

GOSPEL- Fourth Sunday of Lent

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.

When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him,

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.

Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’

​​Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Reflection  

There is much wisdom shared about the sense of hearing.  Make time to listen.  Practice active listening.  Put on your listening ears.  Tell me your story.  We all know the value of being present through careful listening.  Yet there are many times when we are not very good at hearing what is being said.  Perhaps we have too many distractions.  Perhaps we suspect that we might need to hear something we don’t want to hear. Perhaps the story is so familiar that we believe we have already heard it.

Today’s Gospel from Luke is the story of the prodigal son.  My initial reaction today to this parable from Jesus was that I knew where this story was going to take me as I have heard it so many times in my life.  I was ready to tap into my dutiful oldest child's resentment of the younger sibling who wasted his inheritance. Yet, I felt some gentle urging from God to listen deeper.  

My attention was immediately captured by the taunts of Jesus from the Pharisees and scribes:  “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  This left me curious to learn more.  Rather than focusing on a hard working son who despite doing everything right never gets a party, I was overwhelmed with the joy expressed by the father who sees his wayward son metaphorically come back to life. There could be no better reason for a joyful celebration.  What a perfect message of conversion for this Lenten season.

Paul supports this message of conversion in his letter to Corinthians as he teaches about reconciliation:

And all this is from God,who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Learning about the experiences of the younger son who spent his entire inheritance on pleasure, I come to understand there have been many gifts in my life that I have sinfully squandered.  As he desperately realizes that the animals he is caring for have more to eat than he does, I make space for my shame and face the moments in my life when I have come to a breaking point. And as I hear the taunts of the Pharisees and scribes, I wonder when have I tried to live like Jesus lived and opened my heart to sinners with joy and without judgment?  As the younger son returns home to his father with contrition and no expectations, I feel an abiding trust in God’s love for me.  This trust in God’s love is grounded in the wisdom from the Psalm calling us to Taste and See the Goodness in the Lord.